Coca-Cola's expected CEO James Quincey to visit India next week

James Quincey will fly down to India next week in one of his first international market visits after being named the beverage giant’s CEO in August.Ratna Bhushan | ET Bureau | November 06, 2015, 08:04 IST

NEW DELHI: James Quincey, the man expected to be the next CEO at Coca-Cola, will fly down to India next week in one of his first international market visits after being named the beverage giant’s president and chief operating officer in August.

A Coca-Cola India spokesperson confirmed Quincey’s visit. “The chief operating officer of The Coca-Cola Company is on a short visit to India next week. India is one of the first few strategic growth markets that is on his itinerary.” Quincey, 50, is the top contender to succeed Muhtar Kent who has been Coca-Cola’s chief executive and chairman since 2008.

“Kent had first visited India in 2012 four years after taking over as chief executive. But Quincey’s visit is an indication of the US beverage firm’s rising dependence on low-soda consumption but high-potential markets like India,” a top official involved with Coca-Cola said. With soda sales in mature markets like the US and Europe continuing to flag, Coca-Cola is banking heavily on emerging markets like India to spur sales.

Though India reported low single digit volumes and even fall in sales over the past two quarters in line with the overall consumer goods trend of slowing sales, it remains the sixth largest market for the beverage firm and a key growth bastion.

Besides the firm’s India team, Quincey, who will be in the country for a day, is expected to engage with bottlers and possibly visit markets, an industry official told ET.

Coca-Cola India president Venkatesh Kini had told ET in an interview in September that the firm has invested over Rs 1,000 crore in greenfield projects over the past two years, part of an overall investment of $5 billion between 2012-2020.

Coca-Cola India posted 4% volume growth in the July-September quarter, recovering moderately after slipping in the crucial April-June quarter. Unseasonal rains and overall slowing consumption had led to sales slumping in the peak summer months.

Globally, Coca-Cola had reported organic revenue growth of 3% in each of the company’s operating groups except for Asia Pacific. Grappling with slowdown across markets, Coca-Cola had reported falling profits, which it attributed to currency fluctuations, with 2% growth of world-wide soda volumes and 6% growth in non-carbs. “The global economic environment remains challenging,” Quincey had said in a statement last month while announcing the earnings.